Frustration vs. Fruition

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Night Eating

One of my giant stumbling blocks to losing weight has always been, and continues to be, night eating.

As far back as my memory stretches, I can remember waking up once, twice, or even three times in the middle of the night to raid the kitchen for anything that didn’t put up much of a fight getting out of the package. Sometimes I didn’t even remember doing it: it wasn’t uncommon for me to wake up and find candy wrappers littering my floor like there had been a massacre at the Milky Way factory. I would think nothing of polishing off a box of Little Debbies, a 1/3 of a pie, all the leftover grilled cheese sandwiches or pizza. The only thing to survive my zombie-like wrath was usually frozen food (I use the word “usually” very lightly there), and fruits and vegetables, of course.

Even during my first week and a half on Weight Watchers, I’ve found myself trudging groggily into the kitchen at 3 a.m. by the light of my oven’s clock and trying vainly to remember a) why I don’t have any good stuff, a.k.a. junk, anymore and b) why I should eat only 5 Holiday Ritz crackers (a standard serving size I use on my tracker).

I’ve tried to think of numerous reasons why I do this. Genetics? Psychology? Biology? Could it be that food really does have the power to call out to me from the cold depths of the refrigerator? I swear I’ve heard pineapple upside-down cake whispering to me before (“C’mon… I have fruit in me! How bad can I be, really? Go on, have a piece! Or two, or three!”).

Whatever it is, I know I’ll have to put a stop to it if I really want to lose weight. I do count what I eat in the middle of the night, but using those pts. before I even wake up leaves me hungry for the rest of the day.

I’m trying to think up some good strategies in order to kick this habit. I’ve left a glass of water by my bed the past few nights, but my higher brain doesn’t really function after midnight or before 8 a.m. the next day. It’s more like “Me want! Me have…” Hmm… actually, it sounds like Cookie Monster takes over my brain at night. That would explain EVERYTHING… 😉

I’m just kidding. I know I’ve got to take responsibility for this problem myself. Tonight’s tactics: leaving a tower of pop cans with the potential for horrendous noise in front of my bedroom door. I’ll let you if I burgle my own kitchen anyway despite my ingenious alarm system.